


A Modest Proposal

by XylophoneCat



Series: Tumblr Prompts [6]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Boys being domestic, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 15:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15099515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XylophoneCat/pseuds/XylophoneCat
Summary: Sid asks Geno to marry him. Geno doesn't quite get the hint. They get there eventually.





	A Modest Proposal

“What do you think about getting married?”

Geno took a bite of toast. He chewed, swallowed, then took a long gulp of tea. To anyone who didn’t know Sid, the question would have seemed casual, almost a throwaway, but Geno could see the tense line of his shoulders as he waited for Geno to answer. He set his mug down and Sid almost jumped at the thud of ceramic on wood. Geno felt the jerk of his body through where their feet were tangled together on the kitchen tile.

“You want to get married?” he asked finally.

“No, I asked what you think about getting married.”

Geno wasn’t quite sure what the difference was, but apparently the distinction was important to Sid.

“Think I always want to have family, not have to be married to have that. Be nice yes, but no rush.”

Sid nodded, poked at his oatmeal with his spoon and Geno suddenly felt like maybe he’d answered that one wrong.

“That’s, yeah that’s. That’s cool,” Sid said, a tight smile on his face. “I get that.”

“But if you wanted to, then I would too,” Geno added hurriedly, and that maybe worked because Sid’s smile came a little more loose. It still didn’t quite touch his eyes, but it was twenty times better than a smile with no humour. “You know I’m so bad at saying no to you.”

Sid laughed at that, his eyes crinkling and he wrapped his foot a little more firmly around Geno’s ankle. “We both know that’s a lie, G.”

“No, is absolutely true,” Geno insisted. “Anything you ask, I’m your servant.”

“Well then,” Sid said, scraping out his last mouthful of oatmeal and swallowing it with a grimace. “You won’t mind doing the washing up, huh?”

Geno heaved a long suffering sigh, but knew when to admit he’d been outplayed. He held a hand out for Sid’s bowl who stood and rounded the table to gave it to him with a kiss.

“So sneaky,” Geno muttered, leaning up for a second and then third kiss.

“No, you dug yourself into that one,” said Sid, brushing his hands through Geno’s hair. It was getting long, and Geno loved the way Sid would fiddle with the curls, twisting them round his fingers. He sighed happily as Sid gave him one last kiss before pulling away.

“I’m going to shower,” he said. “You’re welcome to join me when you’re done.”

Geno watched him walk away, enjoying the view. Having that forever wouldn’t be so bad, he reckoned.

* * *

“Anyone would think you’re about to ask _Kris_ to marry you,” Patric laughed as Sid took a shaky sip of water. Kris flipped his hair back and gave Sid a roguish smile.

“I mean, can you blame him?” He said with a wink. “But you’re too late, Squid.”

“I’d rather marry a bag of day old poutine,” said Sid, as if his crush on Kris back in the day wasn’t a well known team secret. “Can you just read what I’ve written?”

Kris waved him off and he and Patric bent their heads together over the scrappy piece of paper that Sid had handed to them when they first sat down for lunch together. The restaurant wasn’t Sid’s first choice, a little too in the thick of things for him to feel really comfortable, but Kris had come into practise the other day raving about their guac, and the gluten free options were decent, so there they were.

It was a little after three, a late lunch and an upstairs table that meant they could talk without being disturbed. Sid still picked anxiously at his tortilla chips as Kris and Patric read over his speech. Part of him was wondering why he picked two people who spoke English as a second language to proof read. The other parts were all occupied with I’m going to ask Geno to marry me what if he says no what if he says yes oh God, oh God.

“There are a lot of feelings in this,” Kris said eventually, stealing a handful of Sid’s chips, his own having disappeared long ago. “I’m impressed.”

“It’s a marriage proposal, it’s meant to have feelings,” Patric pointed out, moving half of the stolen chips back onto Sid’s plate. “It’s very sweet.”

“What’s very sweet?” came a voice behind Sid, and they all froze. Sid turned in his seat just as Geno came to a stop by their table.

“Uh,” was all he managed before Kris swooped before he could put his foot in his mouth.

“Dessert,” he said. “We were talking about the cheesecake.”

“Didn’t know they do cheesecake here.”

“Well, not here, just cheesecake in general.” Kris said at the same time Patric said, “It’s new on the menu.”

“What are you doing here, G? How did you know we were here?” Sid cut in before they could dig themselves further into this cheesecake shaped hole. He was probably a shade too sharp, and Geno looked suspiciously between the two of them before seeming to decide that it wasn’t worth following down that rabbit hole. He slid into the booth next to Sid, turned so that he was facing him.

“Olli tell me you here. He not want to tell, but I had to talk to you, Sid,” he started, and that was his serious voice, the voice he used after losses, and that one time he had asked if they could ‘take a break’. God, what if Sid asking about marriage had made Geno realise that he didn’t want to be with him anymore? What if this was Geno breaking up with him? Sid flicked a mildly panicked glance between Patric and Kris who just smiled and shrugged respectively. Geno reached out and took his hand, anchoring Sid’s attention to him. “Sid, you know my English is not so good, so this maybe not as, not as eloquent as could be, but I’m try.”

“I think me and Tanger are gonna go get some more drinks,” Patric said, apparently clicking onto something that Sid had missed. He chivvied Kris out of the booth and down the stairs.

“But I wanna watch,” Kris’ whining trailed behind him as Patric pushed him ahead. Sid watched them retreat with just a little jealousy. Geno cleared throat and Sid snapped back to him.

“Sid,” he restarted. “When I come first to Pittsburgh, nothing make sense. Hockey is different, language is different, everything was very confusing. I think, I’m not last here long, is very hard for me and I miss home very much. But then, I’m also very happy. On the ice always happy because always on the ice with you, Sid.”

“G,” Sid started, but Geno shook his head, not letting him continue.

“You make everything so much better, Sid, always there for me on and off the ice, and I love you so much. When you ask last week about getting married, at the time I think, is no rush. Plenty of time for marrying. But then I think, why not?”

Sid felt like the breath had been punched out of him as he suddenly realised what was happening. He fumbled for Geno’s other hand, gripping it tight, needing the anchor to stop himself from floating away.

“I realise, ‘if you want’ is not much of an answer, is not commitment. And then I realise, I already committed to you years ago, from the very first time I saw you, I knew we were going to be together for our entire careers. Now I know I want to be with you much longer than that.”

Sid looked down at their clasped hands, his vision blurred by sudden tears. Geno wasn’t saying anything he didn’t already know, that hadn’t already been said in the small moments and gestures of everyday life. But hearing it all out loud, it was exhilarating and overwhelming all at once. There was a giddy lightness in his chest, fizzing and popping and if a person could feel like they’d won three Stanley Cups simultaneously, this was what it felt like.

Geno dug in his front pocket and pulled out a ring, simple and silver, and Sid couldn’t fight, didn’t want to fight the grin spreading across his face. He locked eyes with Geno, and they both knew what the answer would be before the question even left Geno’s lips.

“Sidney Crosby, will you marry me?”

**Author's Note:**

> On tumblr @fourthlinefic


End file.
